G10: Stalin's Era - Russia from the Revolution to the Cold War
February 13, 2020 · 10:00-12:00 pm
Description: In 1917, two revolutions swept through Russia, ending centuries of imperial rule and setting in motion political and social changes that would lead to the formation of the Soviet Union. As Nicholas II, the last tsar, grew weaker, Vladimir Lenin, revolutionary leader of the Bolsheviks, rose to prominence as the most powerful figure in Russia. Few other Russian revolutionaries possessed Lenin's decisiveness and strength of vision for Russia's future. When it came time for the untimely succession of Lenin, Communist party leaders battled for control. Despite the opposition of Lenin and many senior leaders in the Party, Joseph Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union by 1928. As early as 1925, Stalin stated that he viewed international politics as a bipolar world in which the Soviet Union would attract countries gravitating to socialism and capitalist countries would attract states gravitating toward capitalism. Differences in the political and economic systems of Western democracies and the Soviet Union became simplified and refined in national ideologies to represent two ways of life. Several events fueled suspicion and distrust between western powers and the Soviet Union which would eventually lead to the Cold War.
Purpose: Learn about the evolution of the Russian state and the circumstances that led up to the Cold War
Facilitator: Steve Vesce (Guest Presenter - West Bay Club) |
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